kegz / July 2, 2003 3:51 PM

Most likely bike or train up to Evanston. Nice show up there viewed from the NU lakefill.

Andrew / July 2, 2003 4:10 PM

There's a weird little private club at Foster and Sheridan that does a show for its members on the 4th. The last few years we've hung out at Foster Beach and watched the show; we'll probably do the same again this year.

amyc / July 2, 2003 4:45 PM

I'm just gonna start a tire fire in the backyard.

Andrew / July 2, 2003 4:50 PM

Yay!!!

Luke / July 2, 2003 5:31 PM

I say this every year, and this shall be no different: If you've seen one firework, you've seen them all work. I honestly don't understand what the attraction is.

Kevin / July 2, 2003 6:03 PM

I'm all for tire fires!! Burn baby, burn.

Can we use republicans as kindling?

Kevin / July 2, 2003 6:27 PM

FWIW, this link..

http://tinyurl.com/fwu9

..will give you a list of all the displays in the area.

Sadly, tire fires are not mentioned.

alicia / July 2, 2003 8:44 PM

my dog is terrified of fireworks. i don't like them either. they make too much noise and cause fires. they are illegal without a permit in the state of illinois anyway. sadly the police rarely enforce it and several people (mostly children) are injured each year as a result.
bah humbug to the fourth.

Naz "90 degrees going nowehere fast" H. / July 3, 2003 1:14 AM

Man, that was one long URL. In the future, if you have a huge URL like that, please use the excellent tinyurl.com to make it short and snappy!

shechemist / July 3, 2003 9:25 AM

I'm dopeing my dog to the gills (he too is not found of repeated loud bangs) then heading out to the watch the 'werks from outside the Shedd with a bottle of wine.

there is nothing more american than oohhing and awwwing at the sight of hundreds of thousands of dollars buring before your eyes while plum in the middle of a sweating crowd. *smirk*

sr / July 3, 2003 10:51 AM

I've hated fireworks since I was a little kid because of that one time we were at my friend's cottage in northern Michigan (which was really just a trailer) and a freak tornado came during the firework display down at the beach. All these people were running up the street like godzilla was coming, and it chased us all the way back to the trailer from the beach. We had to sit in the cellar in lawn chairs, except my dad, because there weren't enough chairs, but he's so tall he had to basically fold himself in half to fit down there. The floor was crazy muddy and we had to hold our sleeping bags (mine was a purple lisa frank one with a gumball machine) all funny so they wouldn't get all mucked up. I pretty much swore off fireworks right then and there as the trailer started shifting and sliding off the foundation with us still underneath it. I'm almost over that phobia, but now I get freaked out by crowds. Go figure.

So I'll be either heavily sedated down by the lake, or heavily sedated indoors wearing earplugs.

Naz / July 3, 2003 11:25 AM

Yeesh, sounds pretty darn traumatic.

sr / July 3, 2003 11:45 AM

i guess it is pretty dramatic, considering last summer was the first time i ever held a sparkler.

okay, now i'm all embarrassed. maybe i should suck it up and just go to the beach like everybody else.

miss ellen / July 3, 2003 12:26 PM

ooh, i love fireworks. ever since i was a little kid, we'd watch the local country club's display from my parents backyard, followed by a semi-illegal display my uncle would put on with indiana fireworks....

i probably won't see the fireworks this year, but last year was able to watch charlotte NC put on a display - however, they've got NUTTIN' on the windy city! however, the stuff you can get down south is much better than the sparklers we get up here.

i will probably see the local ones down in beverly tomorrow night, though. gotta get some "ooohs" and "ahhhhs" this season!

+mojan. / July 3, 2003 12:35 PM

i'm with luke -- never really understood the attraction. but i'll picnic with friends, and while they're trying to watch the sky show, i'll try to distract them with intellectual conversation.

Craig / July 3, 2003 2:36 PM

"Most likely bike or train up to Evanston. Nice show up there viewed from the NU lakefill."

I thought that was Evanston's best kept secret. D'oh. Kegz, do a lot of other people go to the NU "island"? I was hoping to do the same, but dont want to arrive too late and find it packed.

Alex, x, x / July 4, 2003 10:53 AM

I'll be going to the ones in my bedroom! Boo-yah!

Chris Barrett / July 4, 2003 10:59 AM

I will not be watching the general public dump thousands of pounds of cardboard and sulfur into Lake Michigan in a shallow, drunken rememberance of this country's former glory.

Naz / July 4, 2003 12:31 PM

Apparently, there's a fireworks show in Alex and Chris' bedroom. I should list that on Merge. Is there a capacity allowance?

Kevin / July 4, 2003 12:36 PM

"I will not be watching the general public dump thousands of pounds of cardboard and sulfur into Lake Michigan in a shallow, drunken rememberance of this country's former glory."

This brought a tear to my eye.